Media giant Vivendi Universal took a headlong plunge into digital music Wednesday by announcing plans to make available some 43,000 tracks from its music catalog for Internet downloads.
The move is part of an effort by the industry to response to a host of Internet sites, inspired by the now-defunct Napster, that allowed free music swapping in what the record labels called widespread piracy.
The plan by the Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company and a unit of French-based Vivendi Universal, will make individual songs available for downloading and recording to a CD for US$0.99, and albums for US$9.99.
The company said it is the first major label "to offer music fans such a broad catalog of music tracks for preview and purchase."
"This is a watershed moment. Universal is committed to making every recording it controls available for Internet distribution. We have listened to the public, and we are offering the music that people want at a reasonable price that fairly compensates the artists, songwriters and the tens of thousands of hard-working individuals who make their living in the music industry," said Larry Kenswil, president of Universal Music Group's eLabs.
"There is nothing that can justify resorting to illegal services to get UMG music on the Internet."
The move responds to criticism that Internet users have been using illegal means to download music because the major music labels have so far not been able to make digital music available at a reasonable price.
UMG artists include Ashanti, Diana Krall, Eminem, Jay-Z, Nelly, Shaggy, Shania Twain, Sheryl Crow, and U2.
The company is making digital downloads are available immediately through a variety of retailers and music sites including AudioCandy, Best Buy, MP3.com, Tower Records and Windows Media.
Users can preview and purchase music tracks in the Liquid Audio and Windows Media formats, the company said.
The recording industry has been hit by slowing sales, which some attribute to the growing presence of free downloads on the Internet. But the subscription sites created by the major labels have failed to generate much enthusiasm either.
A recent report by the consulting firm ComScore said online music sales through the third quarter or this year were US$545 million, down 25 percent from the US$730 million spent over the same period of last year.
The report shows that the big music labels have been unable to get Internet users to sign up for their subscription music services while free music-swapping remains rampant.
Until just a few years ago, the big labels were reluctant to release any music over the Internet for fear of feeding piracy.
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